A suicide bomber blew himself out of a voter registration center in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least 57 people and injuring more than 100 in the most serious attack that tends to threaten the October elections.
The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack on a project of fundamental importance to the credibility of the government of President Ashraf Ghani, which has come under international pressure to ensure that the long-delayed elections take place this year.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said a foot bomber approached the center where officials were issuing identity cards as part of the registration process of some 10 million voters across Afghanistan. Registration started this month.
President Ghani released a statement condemning the attack and said he "cannot divert us from our goals or undermine this national democratic process."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health said that at least 57 people, including eight children, have been confirmed death and 119 wounds, but the total could still increase.
The blast destroyed cars and windows in nearby buildings, leaving rubble strewn across the street, stained with blood.
It was the deadliest explosion in Kabul since around 100 people were killed in January by a bomb hidden in an ambulance and came after repeated warnings that militants could try to disrupt the electoral process.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, the senior UN official in Afghanistan, issued a statement condemning the attack.
"Compounding the relentless contempt for the loss of civilian lives, the killing appears to be part of a totally unacceptable effort by extremists to discourage Afghan citizens from fulfilling their constitutional right to participate in elections," he said .
After weeks of relative calm, the blast occurred in Dasht-e Barchi, an area of western Kabul inhabited by many members of the mainly Shia Hazara minority, which has been repeatedly hit by attacks claimed by the Islamic State.
“There were women, children. Everyone had come to get their ID cards, ”said Bashir Ahmad, who had been close to the explosion, which occurred despite increased security, after the January attack.
According to UN data, more than 750 people have been killed or mutilated in suicide bombings and bombing by militant groups during the three months until March in view of an expected start of the usual spring offensive of the Taliban.
Afghanistan's international partners have insisted that elections should take place this year ahead of a presidential vote scheduled for 2019, although skepticism has been widespread that they will move forward.
More than 7.000 voter registration centers have been set up across Afghanistan to handle around 10 million registrations in a process that has been repeatedly disrupted by technical and organizational problems.
Officials had pledged to ensure strict security to secure the process, which would be vital to ensure a vote large enough to be accepted as legitimate.
“They should keep the country safe, if they can't do it, someone else should do it for them,” said Sajeda, who was injured in the blast along with three other members of her family as they lined up for their papers.
The voter registration process, designed to reduce electoral fraud, started this month, but there have already been several incidents that have shown an inappropriate security framework.
On Sunday, a roadside bomb near a registration center in the northern city of Pul-i Khumri killed six family members and injured three, although there was no indication that the incident was directly. linked to the attack in Kabul.
Last week, two police officers in the eastern city of Jalalabad were killed outside a voter registration center, while an electoral center in central Ghor province was burned last week and election officials were abducted.
Voting could be postponed to next year if voter registration, many of whom do not have national ID cards, is not completed before September 2018.
Parliament is still in office three years after its official deadline and further delays would seriously weaken the already fragile confidence in the political system.
There was a further scare on Sunday when a NATO military convoy in Kabul accidentally hit and injured a child and sparked a protest that police dispersed by shooting into the air. A NATO spokesperson said the baby had been taken to hospital and was in stable condition.